It's long been said that the best way to a man's heart is through his stomach. But men aren't the only ones who love a great meal. Cooking is not just a technical skill; it's a life activity that you use every day. Here are a few tips to enhance your cooking skills and make you even better at it.
Add a small pinch of sea salt to your ground coffee immediately before brewing. This will add a great punch of flavor to every cup. This process works well in either a traditional coffee maker or a french press. Don't add the salt before brewing time though, or your coffee flavor will be compromised.
One of the best ways to store green vegetables so that you can increase the lifespan that they have, is to store them in a damp paper towel and place them in a plastic bag. This will keep the nutrients in them and retain the freshness that they need to remain tasty.
Check what you have at home and bring any new recipes with you when you go to the store. When you have the recipe with you, you'll have a handy list of what you need to buy. If you don't check what you already have, you may ending up buying more than you need. If you don't bring the recipe, you may forget something that you won't be able to cook without!
Even the humble sandwich can benefit from a little cooking expertise. Mayonnaise, mustard and other condiments should be spread evenly from edge to edge of sandwich bread. This improves consistency and ensures that every bite of the sandwich gets the benefit of the condiments. Even spreading produces superior sandwich results every time.
It is possible to cut back on the amount of calories that are in your favorite dessert by simply using applesauce in the recipe. Many recipes call for unhealthy ingredients that add tons of calories to a desert that really are not needed. Applesauce will add sweetness to the dessert with adding tons of calories.
You need to remember to poke holes in a pie crust before you put it into the oven. A pie crust made from scratch can be very delicious, but if tiny holes are not poked with a fork, it will cause the crust to bubble in places which can make it difficult to fill with yummy ingredients.
Here is an important tip to use when sauteing foods in a pan with oil. If you need to add more oil to the pan in the middle of sauteing, simply pour the oil as stream along the edge of the pan. You should do this rather than pouring in the center of the pan so that the oil will heat up as it travels from the edge to the center.
Never use oil that has been used for other foods or has been sitting in a frying pan for a long time. It will give your food a foul taste. If you are unsure if the oil is good enough to cook with, smell it and use your finger to try a little of it.
You should take special care when you are preparing mushrooms to cook. Make sure you take the time to carefully clean each mushroom with a dry cloth or paper towel. You should not consider rinsing mushrooms in water as they will quickly become soaked and slimy. They will be easier to work with dry.
One of the most important things every cook needs is a well organized kitchen. If you do not organize them, you will be scrambling around to find where you put everything. Store items of a similar nature together. Keep pots in the same cupboard, for instance, or all spatulas in the same drawer.
When cooking with raw meat or eggs, it is very important that you keep your hands and cooking station very sanitary. This is because the raw form of these materials can spread illnesses, such as salmonella, to you. If you do contract an illness, you will be very sick and won't be cooking for a while!
Pesto cooking tip! When you are using pesto sauce, make sure you never heat it up! If you want to have it in a pasta or soup dish, it is best if you cook the food first - then add the uncooked pesto. This is important because cooking pesto will make the basil have a bitter taste.
If you are one of those people that does not eat a lot of vegetables so the fresh veggies you buy go bad very fast you should buy frozen vegetables. Frozen vegetables are flash frozen so they are the same as eating fresh veggies and you only have to take as much as you need from the package and return the rest to the freezer.
If you are cooking salsa that will be eaten after 20 minutes and the recipe calls for raw onions, rinse them with water and blot them thoroughly until they're dry. There are sulfurous gasses in onions. Sulfurous gas can detract from fresh salsa and ruin the flavor. Rinsing in cold water and drying the onions first will eliminate this gas.
If you are making a recipe that contains pasta in a sauce, avoid it being too soggy by cooking the pasta few minutes less in water. Finish cooking it with the sauce. It will be the perfect consistency and not be the mushy starchy mess we all hate when eating pasta!
Store all spices and herbs in dry, dark and cool conditions to get the maximum amount of flavor from them. Light and humidity can diminish the flavor of spices, as can heat. Such close proximity to these three factors will cause your spices to lose their flavors.
A great, home-cooked meal is the kind of thing all of us remember. Using these tips to improve your cooking is the same as an athlete who keeps training--the more you do it, the better you get. learn as much as you can about cooking. The more tips you have, the better your meals will taste.
One of the best ways to store green vegetables so that you can increase the lifespan that they have, is to store them in a damp paper towel and place them in a plastic bag. This will keep the nutrients in them and retain the freshness that they need to remain tasty.
Check what you have at home and bring any new recipes with you when you go to the store. When you have the recipe with you, you'll have a handy list of what you need to buy. If you don't check what you already have, you may ending up buying more than you need. If you don't bring the recipe, you may forget something that you won't be able to cook without!
Even the humble sandwich can benefit from a little cooking expertise. Mayonnaise, mustard and other condiments should be spread evenly from edge to edge of sandwich bread. This improves consistency and ensures that every bite of the sandwich gets the benefit of the condiments. Even spreading produces superior sandwich results every time.
It is possible to cut back on the amount of calories that are in your favorite dessert by simply using applesauce in the recipe. Many recipes call for unhealthy ingredients that add tons of calories to a desert that really are not needed. Applesauce will add sweetness to the dessert with adding tons of calories.
You need to remember to poke holes in a pie crust before you put it into the oven. A pie crust made from scratch can be very delicious, but if tiny holes are not poked with a fork, it will cause the crust to bubble in places which can make it difficult to fill with yummy ingredients.
Here is an important tip to use when sauteing foods in a pan with oil. If you need to add more oil to the pan in the middle of sauteing, simply pour the oil as stream along the edge of the pan. You should do this rather than pouring in the center of the pan so that the oil will heat up as it travels from the edge to the center.
Never use oil that has been used for other foods or has been sitting in a frying pan for a long time. It will give your food a foul taste. If you are unsure if the oil is good enough to cook with, smell it and use your finger to try a little of it.
You should take special care when you are preparing mushrooms to cook. Make sure you take the time to carefully clean each mushroom with a dry cloth or paper towel. You should not consider rinsing mushrooms in water as they will quickly become soaked and slimy. They will be easier to work with dry.
One of the most important things every cook needs is a well organized kitchen. If you do not organize them, you will be scrambling around to find where you put everything. Store items of a similar nature together. Keep pots in the same cupboard, for instance, or all spatulas in the same drawer.
When cooking with raw meat or eggs, it is very important that you keep your hands and cooking station very sanitary. This is because the raw form of these materials can spread illnesses, such as salmonella, to you. If you do contract an illness, you will be very sick and won't be cooking for a while!
Pesto cooking tip! When you are using pesto sauce, make sure you never heat it up! If you want to have it in a pasta or soup dish, it is best if you cook the food first - then add the uncooked pesto. This is important because cooking pesto will make the basil have a bitter taste.
If you are cooking salsa that will be eaten after 20 minutes and the recipe calls for raw onions, rinse them with water and blot them thoroughly until they're dry. There are sulfurous gasses in onions. Sulfurous gas can detract from fresh salsa and ruin the flavor. Rinsing in cold water and drying the onions first will eliminate this gas.
If you are making a recipe that contains pasta in a sauce, avoid it being too soggy by cooking the pasta few minutes less in water. Finish cooking it with the sauce. It will be the perfect consistency and not be the mushy starchy mess we all hate when eating pasta!
Store all spices and herbs in dry, dark and cool conditions to get the maximum amount of flavor from them. Light and humidity can diminish the flavor of spices, as can heat. Such close proximity to these three factors will cause your spices to lose their flavors.
A great, home-cooked meal is the kind of thing all of us remember. Using these tips to improve your cooking is the same as an athlete who keeps training--the more you do it, the better you get. learn as much as you can about cooking. The more tips you have, the better your meals will taste.
